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Wednesday, 27 April 2011

I just knew the raised veg boxes needed a little something else, so with some cheery acrylic craft paint and a set of themed stampers here is what occurred this afternoon:

A solitary orange clown fish, soon to be joined by...

... a jazzy red Angel fish and a collection of...

... peppermint painted dolphins and the result?

A beautiful garden aquarium!

We've also made a start on the compost bins and the decking and have bought some groovy coloured paint for the lettuce planters. I'm hoping we'll have the back garden painting finished by the weekend so that weather permitting, we can take Pip and Benedict to the seaside to collect some stones for our next outdoor project.

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

Lacey Baktus Scarf pattern courtesy of Ravelry. It's not terribly clear on the photograph but three quarters of the way through, I realised I would not have enough of my hand dyed wool to complete it and Sara/Benedict's dye batch was more blue than green/blue!! There was no alternative, I pulled back the scarf and began to re-knit alternating the two different dye batches and it is coming along nicely!

Good Friday buns in the garden and Pip's first "go" at Benedict's camping chair. As you can see from the look on her face she was very pleased! She's taken a sudden interest in counting and colours, so declared the chair to be blue! Not a bad attempt since the colour purple had up until that moment not been part of her vocabulary!

Easter Sunday potato planting. Our very good and kind friend Ian provided a much needed helping hand and in return...

... a sizzling sausage BBQ was enjoyed by all! Ian and his little helper tended to the outside cooking whilst "her indoors!" sorted the cream cheese and chive mini baked potatoes and large accompanying salad bowl.

All plated up and ready to eat.

Bank Holiday Monday in Blue! Having finished the side fence Sara made a prompt start in painting the raised beds before the crops begin to take hold. Daddy, Benedict and Pip watched the "Sound of Music". I don't know how he had managed it but up until yesterday Dave had never watched the film! Totally amazing considering it was one of Em, Kath and Sara's favourites when they were small!! I managed with some help from B earlier in the day to sort through toys, unwanted clothes and unnecessary crockery and knick knacks. We now have five large bin bags awaiting a trip to the charity shop currently residing in the corner of our bedroom!

All dressed up with somewhere to go... today was Pip's first visit to forest school. She went with my lovely friend Debs and two of her boys; she ran and jumped and climbed and waved flags and had a wonderful time! She was very grateful for a sit down in the afternoon to recharge.

NB the Roman sword did not make an appearance at FS it stayed safely at home with big brother Bem!

Phase two of the painting and the shed is resembling a des-res for all the tools and assorted gardening paraphernalia. In between washing and cooking I too have wielded a brush and am very pleased with how the garden is shaping up. Today was definitely a cold and windy day, so the decorating team were grateful for the warming beef and red wine casserole for tea! So we are now two down and two to go... the decking and compost bins are next and then of course there's the pots in varying shapes and colours, just hope the weather holds!

Thursday, 21 April 2011

... we have been enjoying the unseasonably hot weather, so plenty of outdoor fun; yet despite spending most of our waking hours outside, the inside of the house resembled chaos in motion on most days!

Here is our week in pictures:

Making Dandelion Syrup.

Crazy Fun With Friends.

Little Helpers Greening The Fence!

A Submariner in Training.

"Thunderbirds Are Go!"

Wet On Wet Blue Colourwash.

A Flock Of Birds Waiting To Take Flight.

Garden Art.

Water Play.

Today was our regular visit to Shein's. As a result of Benedict having been so poorly in recent weeks we decided to go easy and he worked independently on an Easter craft, followed by the construction of a complex Lego model. We also talked about the senses since one of the children she works with has profound learning disabilities, accompanied with hearing loss and partial sight. Benedict had a hands on session with some of the little girls play equipment and he was able to greater appreciate the difficulties faced by this little girl and her family.

Thursday, 14 April 2011

First up Benedict's blood sugars have stabilised, to the point that, they are almost within normal range, Praise God!!

Sara came home on Monday and I cannot believe how the week has flown. Thanks to our big girl the side fence has a complete first coat of paint and weather permitting a second coat will be applied this weekend, the under sink cupboard has been cleaned and re-organised, little one's have been kept busy with origami flowers and lots of physical activity.Benedict competed in a dance festival, gained a merit mark of 77%, not bad considering he's never danced in front of anyone other than his teacher and class mates. He's had great fun with complex Lego creations this past week but now that, he's stabilised I'll gradually up the workload this forthcoming week.

I've finally got round to dyeing my wool. I've followed advice from my friend Debs and info found on Ravelry and Knitty. I'm pleased with my first attempts and can see how, this kind of activity could actually be quite addictive! Here are some pictures of the process:

Friday, 8 April 2011

This is Benedict's current insulin status since we have restarted pump therapy as of today.

Last night's two hourly observations paid off and I was able to prevent ketoacidosis by giving another injection at 3am when his blood glucose was rising. As a one off this method of management is doable but it is not workable as a long term solution, hence our reasons for restarting the pump therapy.

Pump therapy itself is not without complications and when we last road tested the system we encountered numerous complications and his diabetes still remained unstable. It is now half past midnight and I have just checked his readings which are currently 19.6mmol, a bolus correction has been made via the pump and I now have to wait an hour to ensure that, his blood sugar levels have dropped. If that proves to be the case then I can catch some sleep and recheck him around 4am, if not then I will have to assume that the pump has occluded and will need to re-site another cannula elsewhere on his person. Since the pump only uses short acting insulin in bursts occlusion is a very serious problem and if left unchecked ketoacidosis and coma can occur very quickly.

On a positive note his blood sugars showed considerable improvement from mid afternoon to bedtime. I'm convinced these higher readings throughout the night are due to a growth spurt and judicious resetting of basal rates should rectify this problem, Please God.

Lego Therapy.

Still Smiling...just.

A clever bit of marketing... their motto is "live more, worry less" I'll believe it when I see it!

Thursday, 7 April 2011

Benedict woke with a blood reading of 29mmol this morning. He looked ghastly and was in all likelihood burning ketones as he was sick. Thankfully an emergency injection brought him down but I'm not taking any chances and this evening he is currently on two hourly observations throughout the night. I've already had to administer extra insulin at 11pm!Plenty of knitting time methinks!

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

This week I have been reminded just how precarious life can be, when living with a child affected by a chronic and potentially life threatening condition.

Benedict has experienced dangerously high blood sugars, ketones and crashing hypos several hours after bedtime. It has been a challenging and very tiring time, yet in amongst the dross we have continued to count our blessings. Dave I must add does so with far greater grace than I could ever hope to achieve!

Formal book based learning has been catapulted out the window, yet as with all things the learning process has not ceased and in many ways Benedict has far exceeded my expectations! He enjoyed watching "How to build a nuclear submarine", which was filmed at the ship yard in our home town. This led to an in depth discussion with Dad, which in turn led to a comprehensive list making exercise on the processes and people involved in such a project.

He continue to enjoys his craft sessions with kamilla and has made a dinosaur world and daddy tiger and baby cub from clay and last week he painted a beautiful picture of a horse on a hill.The weekly sessions with Shein are also working well and despite feeling truly poorly last Thursday he made a fine attempt at graph interpretation followed by a junk model replica of a working boiler! Today he pieced together a wooden construction of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and is now currently watching a fascinating documentary on the weather, I can see the potential for extra practical learning with regard to this subject, should his interest be sustained!

Pip continues to be a lovable bundle of fun and truly lives life to the full. Her current reading interests are the Topsy and Tim books, she likes nothing more than to fetch a book and announce " read, book knee!" She has also developed a self service style when it comes to boo feeding, which is a cause of much laughter in the household and occasional embarrassment for mum!

Sara the littlest of our big girls will be home next week for a period of time. She is awaiting transfer to a lay community based in Italy. It will be good to have her home and not just because she represents another pair of capable hands!

So in the interest of family posterity and to prove that it was not all doom and gloom at chez nous here are some pictures from the past week...

A happy beaver lodge leader!

A work in progress...

...concentrating hard!

Kamilla keeping a watchful eye over the proceedings.

Almost finished, the horse is currently awaiting its " Rider on the storm!"